Breaking News, World News and Taiwan News.

Updated Friday, March 11, 2011 0:08 am TWN, By Rajeshwari Krishnamurthy, AFP



	Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama speaks during the commemoration of the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, in Dharmsala, India, Thursday, March 10. The Dalai Lama says he will give up his political role in Tibet's government-in-exile, shifting that power to an elected representative. (AP) Enlarge Photo

Sponsors
▪	Find great real time deals on China Flights. Book flights to China or China domestic flights 24/7.
▪	Buy china wholesale products from reliable chinese wholesalers on DHgate.com!
▪	Save 75% for all hotels in Shanghai, Beijing and whole China. Lowest rates for Flights in China.
▪	Get the best deals for Guangzhou Hotels or choose from more than 10,000 hotels in 499 Chinese cities.

Dalai Lama to resign as political leader

“It's a symbolic rather than a material change,” Barry Sautman, a Tibet expert at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, told AFP. “Any important decisions would still have to be discussed with the Dalai Lama.”

“I don't see it affecting relations between the government-in-exile and China and it certainly doesn't presage any change in the Middle Way (autonomy) policy, which would only happen after the Dalai Lama's death.”

Despite his age and several health scares, the Dalai Lama maintains a punishing travel schedule as the global face of the Tibetan movement.

But while he commands substantial international respect, official support for his movement has largely been sacrificed to the necessity of maintaining political and trade relations with Beijing.

China has sought to sideline him by castigating any foreign government that champions his cause or allows him to visit.

“The Dalai is a political exile under a religious cloak long engaged in activities aimed at splitting China,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

“The government-in-exile is an illegal political organization and no country in the world recognizes it.”

Riot police in neighboring Nepal, which supports China's policy on Tibet, broke up a demonstration by hundreds of Tibetan exiles marking Thursday's anniversary.

While resigning his political office is unlikely to diminish the Dalai Lama's status, it marks an acceleration of preparations to fill the vacuum that will be left by his death.

1|2